Disney+ Delivery Guide
Streaming4K HDRDolby Vision requiredThe most common loudness rejection in post production comes from Disney+ — not because of wrong targets, but because of how Disney measures. This guide explains the nuances other resources miss.
Disney+ measures integrated loudness from the very first frame to the very last frame of the delivered file — including pre-roll silence, countdowns, and end slates.
Most audio mixers using Nugen LMCorrect 2 (Disney's own recommended tool) measure from "first frame of action" — i.e., from where the program content starts. This creates a systematic 0.3–0.5 LKFS discrepancy.
Fix: Trim silence from heads/tails before measuring. Target -24.0 LKFS exactly to leave room within the ±0.4 window for measurement variance. Do not target -24.3 or -23.7.
Pipewright detects this: Measures from full file boundary using ffmpeg ebur128, flags results outside -24.0 ±0.4 LKFS with exact measured value and margin.
Integrated loudness outside -24 LKFS ±0.4 LU window
Mixer measured with wrong meter implementation (measuring from first frame of action vs. full content including silence); meter measures -27.2 but Disney measures -27.7 due to measurement window difference
True Peak level exceeds -2 dBTP
Peaks present in dialogue or music stems; inter-sample peaks not caught by sample-peak metering
Dolby Atmos ADM file created with outdated renderer version
Post house using older Dolby tools; Disney advances minimum renderer version without broad announcement
Dolby Atmos file cannot be recognized as valid Atmos source
Improper Atmos conversion, file corruption, non-Atmos file mislabeled as Atmos
Dolby Atmos track not present — required for all Disney+ Originals
Stereo or 5.1 PCM only delivered without Atmos track for an Original series
Music & Effects (M&E) mix not delivered — required for international distribution
Post coordinator unaware that M&E is mandatory for Disney+ international pipeline
Audio channel count or mapping does not match spec
5.1 delivered as 7.1, stereo mix exported with wrong channel mapping, dual mono detected
Dolby Vision profile is incorrect — Profile 8 (distribution) required
Colorist delivered Dolby Vision Profile 5 (theatrical) instead of Profile 8 (distribution/broadcast)
Dolby Vision RPU (Reshaping Processing Unit) metadata missing or invalid
Attempted HDR10→Dolby Vision conversion without proper RPU generation; DV metadata sidecar not included
Dolby Vision CM metadata version below minimum required
Dolby Vision mastered with pre-2023 tools; CM version 2.9+ required
HDR10 MaxCLL and/or MaxFALL metadata absent from container
Color grading tools didn't embed SMPTE ST 2086 metadata; DV/HDR10 container without mastering display data
Video resolution does not meet minimum spec
1080p delivered for 4K UHD request; upscaled content detected
Frame rate conformance error
23.976 delivered as 24; mixed frame rate content; VFR (variable frame rate) export
Interlaced video detected — progressive only accepted
Field-based source not de-interlaced; telecine material not converted
Black bars or letterbox/pillarbox present in frame
4:3 source letter-boxed into 16:9; wrong aspect ratio mapping from NLE
Caption file is not TTML/IMSC — SRT not accepted for Disney+ Originals
Post coordinator delivered SRT (works for YouTube/Hulu) without knowing Disney+ requires TTML
Captions are burned into the video frame
Export preset included burned-in captions; subtitle filter applied during render
Multiple caption events overlap on screen simultaneously
Imported captions with duplicate events; poor subtitle timing
SDH (Subtitles for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) not present for English content
Standard captions delivered without SDH track; SDH not flagged separately
EIDR (Entertainment Identifier Registry) ID missing from metadata
Content not registered in EIDR before delivery; metadata package incomplete
Timecode breaks, resets, or does not start at standard start time
Edit splices created timecode gaps; delivery did not start at 01:00:00:00
Netflix: -27 LKFS dialogue-gated (BS.1770-1)
Disney+: -24 LKFS integrated (BS.1770-4)
A mix optimized for Netflix will be 3 LKFS too loud for Disney+ if the integrated measurement is applied. You need separate loudness targets per platform.